


Molting

by NitroJen



Series: Mutants Verse [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Capes, M/M, molting, mutations, wing!fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 20:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9674297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NitroJen/pseuds/NitroJen
Summary: No Capes verse with mutations.Dick doesn't show up to an important mutant rights gala and Jason gets worried. He goes to check on Dick only to realize Dick is molting and he decided to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to empires for the encouragement!

Jason knew Dick Grayson was a busy guy, as long as Jason had known him, Dick balanced different things on his plate like an expert. The thing was, Dick was usually pretty good about letting people know when he needed to cancel plans, giving them an alternative and making sure they didn’t feel bad. It was one of the many things that gave Dick the reputation of being Gotham’s Angel. Jason hated the cliche, but had to admit it had a fair amount accuracy. Dick was beautiful and radiant, and that was just his face. Even in a world full of mutations, Dick somehow managed to stand out among them as beautiful.

Jason looked at his wrist and checked the time with one of the waiters floating around the gala, frowning when the times were the same. Dick was late sometimes, but he was never more than fifteen minutes late without a text, and never more than thirty minutes late without a phone call. Dick was supposed to give a speech tonight, but he was nowhere to be found, leaving Jason to make it in his place. People were starting to talk and Jason apologized the the woman who’d arranged the event before making a speech on the importance of mutant rights and the need for support from the people at this event for mutant community centers in Gotham.

Jason excused himself from the event as soon as he was able and he made his way to Dick’s apartment. He could feel the undercurrent of anger but he did his best to squash it down until he knew why Dick had skipped this event. He was more concerned than anything because this was so out of character for Dick. He pulled into the parking garage of Dick’s building, making note that Dick’s motorcycle was in its spot. Jason and Dick weren’t the best of friends, but having grown up in the same household, they had access to each other’s places.

Jason rode up to the higher floors of Dick’s building and made his way to Dick’s door, knocking loud enough so Dick could hear him. Jason realized as he waited for Dick, that he should have brought food or something in case Dick was sick, but it was too late for that now. Dick opened the door and Jason did his best to hide his shock when he saw Dick through the thin crack.

He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair looked like a bird had tried to nest in it. He was wearing a pair of sweats that hung low on his hips and Jason saw flecks of blood under Dicks nails. Even in this rough shape, he still looked more beautiful than anyone Jason had seen at the gala and it took Jason’s breath away.

“What is it?” Dick asked, his voice was tired but Jason’s eyes fell to the feathers that drifted out the door.

“The community center fundraising gala was tonight,” Jason said and Dick flinched.

“Shit,” Dick whispered, leaning his head on the door jamb but still not moving to open it any more. Three more feathers made their way out of the door. “I didn’t mean to I just...it’s been a rough few days,” Dick looked at Jason as if he’d understand.

“Dick...did something happen?” Jason asked, mind distantly going back to an incident that had happened a few years ago where Dick had been in similar shape.

“This isn’t a repeat of what happened with Slade,” Dick said. “It’s not that bad it’s just,” he thunked his head against the doorjamb again and his whole body shuddered.

“But it’s still bad,” Jason said. “Dick I can help, please, let me help.”

Jason’s eyes fell to Dick’s fingers and how they twitched and then he looked up and Dick’s face looked strained.

“It’s fine, really,” Dick said. “I just need a few days.”

“A few days,” Jason said. “How many days has this been going on?”

“A few,” Dick replied.

“Have you been taking care of yourself in those few days?” Jason asked.

Dick’s face said it all and Jason sighed, putting his foot in the door and nudging it open. His mouth fell open when he saw Dick. On a normal day, Dick’s wings were a marvel, white where they started at his back and at the top fading to a dark midnight blue with black at the tips. They were beautiful, turning from the colors of daylight into the colors of the night sky.

Now, they weren’t just ruffled, they were a complete mess, some of them out of place, others just completely gone. Dick’s wings came around him to obscure his face, but that allowed Jason to see how much worse they looked. There were a few smudges of red that Jason could see on the white feathers and Jason’s shoulders fell.

“Dick, what happened?” There were also feathers everywhere in Dick’s apartment. Dick’s apartment was normally pretty disorganized, but it looked like someone had a massive pillow fight and hadn’t bothered cleaning it up.

“I’m molting,” Dick said, he didn’t show his face from his wing cocoon but Jason could hear the irritation in his voice.

“Yeah,” Jason said, unsure of what else to day as he took off his blazer and loosened his tie. “Have you been eating?”

Another one of those all telling silences filled the air and Jason sighed. “I’ll call and order takeout. You got some spare clothes?”

“Yeah,” Dick said.

Jason called the takeout place and Dick vanished into his bedroom. He came back with a shirt and some sweats for Jason. He went to Dick’s room to change. The blankets on the bed were a mess and one of Dick’s lamps was broken and sitting on the floor untouched. It looked like Dick had gotten into a fight with his wings and both parties had lost. Dick had never mentioned anything about molting before and Jason didn’t know if it was some kind of pride or if it was an aspect of Dick Grayson, Gotham’s Angel, that he liked to keep hidden.

Jason went back out to the living room and Dick was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, twisting and tugging at his wing trying to pull it close to himself.

“Hey,” Jason gently slapped at Dick’s hand. “Don’t hurt yourself, I’ll take care of it.”

“You don’t even know what to do,” Dick huffed.

“Well you can explain it to me,” Jason said as he started running his fingers through Dick’s feathers. His wing shuddered and stretched when Jason touched it. He helped dislodge a few feathers that were trying to shed but were a little stuck. He started with that, working his way over Dick’s wing tugging on loose feathers.

“I’m in the shedding part right now,” Dick said. “But you can probably see the really spiky things. Those are the pin feathers, you don’t touch them until they get really white and cracked and powdery.”

“Okay yeah I can see the pin feathers,” Jason said.

“They itch like crazy when they come in,” Dick said. “And right now they’re coming in where I can’t reach and it’s the literal worst.”

“Ah,” Jason said as he looked closer at the pin feathers. They definitely didn’t look comfortable and Jason could see where the skin was irritated from where they grew in. “Do you have any wing oil?” he asked as he massaged the skin lightly. Dick’s shoulders relaxed and Jason kept gently massaging the area with his fingers.

“Yeah,” Dick whispered. “It’s in the bathroom.”

Jason got the wing oil and the food arrived moments later. He worked the wing oil into the pin feathers while Dick ate his food. Jason was glad he was behind Dick, because the way Dick was half melted into the table as he tried to eat was one of the  most entertaining things Jason had ever seen. He alternated between massaging oil into the feathers and pulling out old ones.    


“Do you normally have help for this?” Jason asked.

“Nope,” Dick said, voice lazy as he shook his head. “Bruce used to help me as a kid, but I haven’t had help during one of my molts in years.”

“How often do you molt?” Jason asked.

“Once a year and it usually lasts a week or so,” Dick commented.

“Well, now you have me here to help you,” Jason said as he finished the back of Dick’s wings. He tapped Dick’s shoulder. “Alright, time for me to work on your anterior feathers.”

They switched things around, Dick holding a pillow and channel surfing while Jason worked on his feathers. Dick’s knee would brush Jason’s on occasion, but Jason didn’t mind. As he worked on the harder to reach feathers closer to Dick’s back and shoulders, Dick leaned against him, body warm. Sometimes Dick would sigh into Jason’s shoulder when Jason massaged a hard to reach area of pin feathers, the noise sounding almost like a trill as Jason worked the oil into it.

“Alright,” Jason said when he finished, “Let me see your hands.”

“Why?” Dick asked, lifting his head up like it was burdensome.

“Because there’s blood under your nails,” Jason said. “Let me clean it out.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Dick commented.

“I don’t have to do any of this,” Jason said. “Hands.”

Dick rolled his eyes but he obeyed, letting Jason clean the dried blood from under his nails.

“How did this happen?” Jason asked.

“I broke open one of the pin feathers before it was ready,” Dick said. “It was just itching so much I guess I pulled it too hard and it broke open and started bleeding. It really hurts when you break a pin feather before it’s ready.”

“I’ll make sure I don’t make that mistake,” Jason promised, finishing cleaning Dick’s hands and leaning back.

“Have you eaten?” Dick asked.

“Not yet,” Jason said. “I wanted to finish taking care of your wings before I did anything. I did order takeout for myself though.”

“Take a break,” Dick said. “I’m good right now. Don’t stop taking care of yourself because you’re taking care of me.”

Dick leaned against Jason while he ate, playing with some of the feathers at the tips of his wings. “I’m sorry for missing the event tonight,” Dick said. “You  _ know _ I’d have called but I completely forgot, this has just been a really bad molt.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Jason said. “I knew something had to be wrong if you didn’t call and now you don’t have to go through this alone. It’s not like I had better plans.” Jason pulled a feather out of his food and pressed it against Dick’s chest. “You do have to apologize for that though. I know this is chicken lo mein, but I don’t want that much chicken.”

Dick shoved at his shoulder but he laughed and Jason smiled as he shoved gently back. “I’m sorry it’s not like I’m in a mood to clean when my feathers are replacing themselves.”

“Dick, you’re like a flustered bird right now,” Jason told him, setting his food aside. “I mean there’s feathers in your hair.”

“It’s a fashion statement,” Dick protested. “Feather crowns are the new flower crown.”

Jason plucked one of the downy feathers from Dick’s hair and blew it at his nose, watching as it drifted between them. Dick’s eyes moved downward but they stopped watching the progress of the feather and lingered on Jason’s mouth.

One of the things that came with Jason’s mutation was the ability to read people, and right now, Jason hoped and prayed he was reading the signals from Dick correctly. He leaned in close and pressed their mouths together in a chaste kiss, lighter than the feathers that floated around them. It was a test, to see if Dick would respond to it at all.

Dick chased his lips when he pulled back, pulling him into another kiss, one that lasted a little longer as Dick climbed into his lap. Jason was surprised at how light he was, but if Dick went through molting and had wings, he probably had the light bones that most birds had. They kissed for awhile, Jason’s mouth exploring Dick’s before Dick pulled away, resting his head on Jason’s shoulder.

“I just want you to know,” Jason said. “I didn’t have any expectations when I did this.” Jason shook his head, trying to phrase things the way they were in his head. His reflexes allowed him to analyze a situation and respond physically sometimes, but words were still hard to grasp in situations like this. “What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to do anything with me because I helped you.”   


“I know,” Dick said, wings curling around them. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for awhile. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” He turned his head from where it was resting on Jason’s shoulder and there was something dancing in his eyes.

Jason pressed a kiss to Dick’s temple. “Do you want to go back to your nest for the night, Pretty Bird?”

Dick made a soft noise, “Yes, please.”

Jason carried him to the bedroom, setting him on the ground while he went about remaking the bed and cleaning up the pieces of the lamp. When he was done, he lifted Dick and set him back on the bed.

“Lay on your stomach, I’ll massage your pin feathers for a bit.”

“You treat me so well,” Dick said as he melted into the pillow.

The next few days went on quickly and it was strange for Jason to watch the feathers grow. He soon learned the signs of when the feathers were ready to be released from the shafts. It added to the mess of the rest of the feathers scattered in Dick’s apartment. Jason had cleaned up some of them, but the process of the molt had left Dick in a cranky and clingy state, especially as he had more pin feathers grow in. Dick’s feathers puffed up any time Jason considered using the vacuum so he did what he could with a broom, occasionally putting aside pretty feathers and tucking them into Dick’s hair or sneaking them into a jacket pocket.

When they neared the end of the molt, Dick sighed and collapsed face down onto his bed. “That was one of the most tiring molts I’ve ever gone through. I’m exhausted.”

“You didn’t do a whole lot, Birdbrain,” Jason said, but the words were nothing but fond as he ran a hand through the downy feathers that transitioned into skin at Dick’s shoulders. His feathers looked much more pristine now that the molt was over. The white feathers were brighter and the blues that transitioned down were richer, the fresh feathers soft, but strong under Jason’s fingertips.

Dick made an indignant noise, but Jason joined him on the bed, letting Dick surround him, feathers brushing at his back.

“So,” Dick said as he ran a finger up Jason’s chest. “We should probably talk. I like you,” Dick looked into his eyes. “You did so many things for me that you didn’t have to and even when I was in relationships, I was never treated that well during a molt. I just want to put it out there that I have feelings for you and that I want to continue exploring what we have because I think it could be something really amazing.”

Jason looked at Dick and ran a hand through his hair. Dick had seemed unattainable to him for so long that Jason had almost forgotten he’d held feelings for Dick for so long. He’d resigned himself to the fact that everyone felt that way about Dick and that he didn’t have much of a chance when so many people competed for Dick’s attention. That hadn’t stopped him from caring from Dick though, it was hard not to when Dick felt like some magical being plucked from another world and dropped into this one.

“Dick, you deserve to have someone doing these things for you,” Jason said. “But being the one that gets to do them,” Jason shook his head. “Yes,” he said. “I want to see where this goes.”

Dick smiled and Jason could have sworn he glowed. He pulled Dick close giving him a few teasing pecks until he deepened the kiss into something that lasted for hours.


End file.
